Boat owners, particularly owners of relatively small boats (e.g., less than twenty five feet in length) oftentimes find it desirable to remove their boats from the lake or other body of water when the boat is not in use (i.e., boats of substantially any desired size or length may also benefit from being removed from the lake or other body of water). In order to lift their boats from the water, various elevating hoist devices have been developed which have a boat cradle portion which lifts the boat vertically to raise the hull of the boat above the waterline. These hoists or lifts permit a boat owner to raise their boat (or other watercraft) from the body of water and store the boat in this elevated position.
In order to protect the boat from the elements (e.g., the effects of sun and precipitation), a canopy is oftentimes placed over the boatlift to provide a modicum of protection from the weather. This is particularly important for boats with fine wood and fiberglass hulls, as continued exposure to ultraviolet rays from the sun degrade the fine wood (e.g., mahogany and teak woods), finish, fiberglass, and/or substantially any material that the boat may be constructed from and/or contain (e.g., vinyl seats). The more the boat may be brought under the cover of the canopy the better it will be protected from the elements. While a canopy does provide protection against the elements, it only provides the maximum benefit if it is relatively close to the boat itself. A problem occurs, however, in that boaters must have easy access to their boats (i.e., to board and/or load their boats). Many boat owners are forced to compromise in their placement of the canopy to allow access to the boat while providing at least some protection.
Other protective devices lower and raise a canopy or cover onto the top of a boat through cables and lines that hang above the boatlift. These canopies, however, due to their use of hanging cables provide the canopy or cover with an undesirable range of motion which extends beyond the vertical plane (i.e., the canopy is free to move laterally). This creates the potential for the canopy to undesirably contact the boat (e.g., the canopy may be repeatedly blown into the boat by a strong wind) and cause damage to the boat.
There is therefore a need for a boatlift and canopy assembly that overcomes the drawbacks of prior boatlifts. The below described invention successfully overcomes the “balancing act” of protection from the elements and ready access to the watercraft by providing an assembly which raises the canopy away from the boat as the boat is lowered into the water and which lowers the canopy closer to the boat as the boat is lifted from the water. The below described invention further provides a device having a positive control feature which prevents the canopy from moving in any direction other than the vertical direction.